Satellite launchers

When Harold Watkinson, Minister of Defence, announced the cancellation of Blue Streak as a weapon, he went on to say that the vehicle would be deveoped as a satellite launcher.

Indeed, RAE had drawn up such a design as early as 1957, and Geoffrey Pardoe of de Havilland had also drawn up a launcher. These, like the BSSLV or Black Prince design of Saunders Roe, all used Blue Streak with some variation of Black Knight as a second stage. And, briefly, consideration was given to a launch site in Cumbria!

After the launch of F1, the first flight of Blue Streak, the Officer in Scientific Charge, HGR Robinson of RAE Farnborough, prepared a report on the flight, which is reproduced here in its entirety. Robinson was also the man in charge of the Black Knight programme.

Blue Streak and ELDO.

So, the missile having been cancelled, what comes next? ELDO - the European Launcher Development Organisation, and its launcher, Europa. There were also proposals to produce augmented version of the launcher.

There was also a proposal to move the launch site from Woomera to Darwin.